Using creativity for social change through Creative Majlis

There comes a time in everyone's life when they look at what they do, day after day, and wonder if it has any meaning - if it makes life better for anyone other than themselves. That's when we start wishing that we want to do something meaningful.

Most of us would like to make a difference to the world we live in, but how? Now there's a great way to get together and pool in skills and talents for social change, right here in the UAE as well as around the world - through Creative Majlis.

Creative Majlis is a global network of professionals who wish to volunteer their skills and knowledge, their talent and experience, to make a difference to the world around us, creatively.

The Majlis was founded by me and Mayura Sandeep, a fellow author and copywriter, to bring together people who wanted to use their talent for social change.

We recently had a meeting and openhouse session to explore various community projects we can take up with our members around the world. Here's how it went...

Event: Creative Majlis meeting and open space session
Date & Location: 5 June 2006, Dubai

Participants: Dr Abdul Gafoor, Adnan Arif, Aman Wallia, Atul Panase, Farrukh Naeem, Fouad Marzouk, Kandarp Baxi, Kapil Verma, Maliha Raza, Mayura Sandeep, Mufaddal Bootwala, Mukta Verma, Peeyush Aras, Pradeep Ullal, Pradnya Pandit, Purvi Shah, Dr Rajini Abdul Gafoor, Ramesh Iyer, Sandeep Ramanujam, Vikas Bhargava


The colourful and hospitable venue chosen for the Creative Majlis event is ‘The Grind’ in Al Manazel Building on Mankhool Road, Dubai.


Representatives of the organisations that Creative Majlis is currently working with grace the occasion with their presence. (L to R: Purvi Shah and Mukta Verma from Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs interact with Dr Rajini Abdul Gafoor of The Kinderhut Foundation.)


Maliha Raza, core member and organisational development consultant for Creative Majlis starts off her engaging presentation on volunteering with a few examples of volunteers who made an impact on the world - Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and so on.


We have a full house with attendees wishing to explore various ways in which they can impact the world around them with their skills and talent.


While Maliha polls each member for potential projects Creative Majlis can take up, Mayura Sandeep keys in each idea into a presentation slide - and we now have as many creative ideas as there are participants.


The open space session, wherein participants are split into random groups to devise execution strategies for chosen projects, progresses in full steam.


The Creative Majlis meeting and open space session generate lots of workable and powerful project ideas on how to make a difference to the world around us, locally and globally, as a team.

We’re now looking at ways to launch these creative projects by pooling in the skills, talents and resources of our members, current and potential. To join Creative Majlis and be a part of a global group of creative volunteers pooling in their skills and talents for social change, visit Creative Majlis on Ryze.

Credits:
Event Planning: Mayura Sandeep, Farrukh Naeem, Maliha Raza
Organisation & Logistics: Mayura Sandeep
Volunteering Opportunities Presentation & Open Space Session: Maliha Raza
Projector courtesy: Ramesh Iyer
Stationery courtesy: Sandeep Ramanujam
Venue suggestion by: Kandarp Baxi & Aman Wallia
Hospitality and complimentary cookies by: The wonderful people at The Grind

Report and photographs by: Farrukh Naeem
The fun and action in the report and photographs by: Creative Majlis members and participants